Inquisition

This painting is how Francisco de Goya imagined the Inquisition. It was drawn from 1812 to 1819

The Inquisition was the legal agent of the Catholic Church against heresy in the Middle Ages. It did two main things. First, it issued a list (the Index) of published books banned because they contained heresy. The faithful were forbidden to read such books. Second, it prosecuted individuals thought guilty of heresy.

Later versions of the Inquisitions had the power to use torture or the threat of torture to get confessions and religious conversions. It had the power to order executions. The standard method was to burn heretics alive, or to garrotte them in public. The actual deed was done by the civil authorities.

In 1542 Pope Paul III established the Congregation of the Holy Office of the Inquisition as a tribunal staffed with cardinals and other officials. This version supervised the local Inquisitions in other countries, and also investigated important cases from Italy. The most famous case it tried was that of Galileo Galilei in 1633.

The word Inquisition comes from Latinquaerere. That means to to turn, to ask a question.